High-performance hydrophobic MOFs for selective acetone capture under humid conditions

Abstract

Capturing acetone, a major indoor air pollutant, under humid conditions is a longstanding challenge in materials science. The key obstacle lies in finding porous adsorbents that simultaneously exhibit strong affinity for acetone and intrinsic hydrophobicity, a rare and elusive pairing. Leveraging the structural and chemical versatility of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), we first explored a diverse set of MOFs using force field Monte Carlo and density-functional theory calculations. This computational strategy identified CAU-11(Al) as a top performer: a hydrophobic, small pore MOF that enables both high acetone affinity and uptake at trace concentrations with excellent selectivity over water. Experimental validation through gas-phase pulse chromatography, adsorption measurements, and breakthrough studies confirmed the outstanding performance of this sorbent under competitive acetone/water conditions. These results position CAU-11(Al) as a promising material for real-world acetone capture in humid indoor environments.